I stopped by what has quickly become my favourite lunch time stop: Buckingham Coffee Lounge. Tucked behind a shopping complex with the likes of mainstream eateries such as Nandos, Eat, Wagamamas and the ever present Marks and Spencer, my little sandwich shop is delightfully simple. No Rocket + Brie & Cranberry compote baguette to be found here, just straight forward simple British sandwiches. Which of course means obscene amounts of mayonaise. But if I’m careful in my ordering I can avoid the typical gloopy english sandwich and get something quite tasty, and for under £ 2.50! Lately, I’ve become a bit of a regular, and as a result I’ve noticed that I’m not alone. The same 4 staff members who work there every day are starting to know me, but not as well as the hoards of cabbie drivers who seem to come by everyday. I’ve noticed the black cabs lined up outside before, but never paid much attention to how often these guys lunch here. But today the staff was extra chatty with them, since I learned today is tab day. At least half the place was setteling their weekly tabs with the shop. Quite the trusting policy especially given that we’re in central London and all the papers on the coffee shop tables are splashed with headlines about the 11 year old boy shot dead in a drive by shooting (err.. ride-by, it was from a bicycle. The killer is beleived to be 13). But in this little sandwich shop, London feels very friendly.
In this photo, you can see the green sign for the shop, and all the black (and one token red) cabs lined up outside.
image/jpeg Sent from my BlackBerry? wireless device